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Metro-area pilot program helps children with learning difficulties achieve
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DENVER, Colo. – (company press release) A pilot program conducted by four metro-area elementary schools and Integrated Listening Systems has brought nearly every child up to grade level or significantly closer in just a few months, prompting school officials to expand the program.
“I’ve made sure that the program will be running at Rocky Mountain Elementary again this year,” said Ilyne Engel, physical therapist with RME. “We have established participation criteria and lesson plans, and we’ve petitioned the district to purchase two more units, which will enable us to expand the program to more than two dozen kids.”
The units Engel refers to are iPods and specialized headsets produced by Integrated Listening Systems. Therapists and trained practitioners provide the headsets to children with identified learning disabilities, which can include ADHD, reading difficulties, auditory processing disorder and autism. The children then complete sight and balance games while listening to music.
In the pilot study, teachers at four metro-area elementary schools selected a total of 20 children whom they felt could benefit from this intervention. These children either had a diagnosed learning disability, or were underachieving in class without a formal diagnosis.
These select children took a variety standardized tests before participating in the ILS program to establish a benchmark, then retook the tests after the program to measure growth.
After just two to three months of using the system for an hour a day, three days a week, the teachers reported significant improvement in 19 of the 20 children, which is a 95 percent success rate – nearly unheard of in this field. For the purposes of the study, "significant improvement" includes one or more of the following:
_ Being transitioned from special education to regular education.
_ Having an Individualized Education Program (IEP) removed.
_ Overcoming a substantial learning deficit.
In addition to the results demonstrated by these test scores, the teachers and parents have noticed dramatic improvements in the children's ability to focus, behave appropriately and perform successfully in the classroom environment.
"I can't tell you how happy we are," said Mo Schaul, mother of Frank, a nine-year-old boy diagnosed with high-functioning mild autism who participated in the study. "He's gone from a child who cried and hid under tables because everything was a chore, to a little boy who is more confident and ready to go!"
"The findings from this study add to our evidence that this system helps children achieve academically and developmentally," said Kate O'Brien Minson, co-founder of Integrated Listening Systems, LLC, which launched in September 2007. "It’s exciting to see such a broad array of issues – attention, reading, auditory processing and more – improve in less than three months. The results from this pilot study are incredibly satisfying and proof for us that we're on the right track to help thousands of children achieve in school and lead happier lives."
This therapy also can serve as a solution for cash-strapped school districts. According to a January 2002 report that provides special education data compiled by the Colorado Department of Education, Colorado public schools spend about $5,500 extra per year for each special-needs child, and special-needs students make up on average nearly 11 percent of each class statewide. In addition to increasing the students’ test scores and academic future, programs like iLs can decrease per-child costs for each district by significantly lessening the burden on special-needs programs. An executive summary of this pilot program, including information about the participants and the specific standardized test results that demonstrate the academic growth of each child, is available on iLs’ website at www.IntegratedListening.com.
About Integrated Listening Systems
Integrated Listening Systems uses sound and movement to exercise parts of the brain that are involved in learning and communication, showing effectiveness in addressing learning disabilities and enhancing academic improvements. It’s the only program available that combines auditory with visual and balancing activities to improve the ability to process sensory information. By making its unique equipment and training more accessible and available to parents, teachers and clinicians around the world, iLs helps families become healthier. Learn more or find a trained iLs practitioner in your area by visiting www.IntegratedListening.com.
